Commentary on the Draft Principles and Preliminary Blueprint
for the Future of Lower Manhattan

By Louis Epstein
R.D. 13,Carmel,New York 10512

This document,in its efforts to pursue a number of contradictory
goals,is in need of a major rethink.

Apart from the itemized intention to build a memorial to those
who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center attacks,
the plan attempts to reinvent Lower Manhattan as if the World
Trade Center had never existed...as if the old Radio Row district
had lingered into the new century and then quietly evaporated into
thin air and presented a greenfield building opportunity with no
rancor or implications to be drawn from the decisions taken.

This is of course not the case.No ordinary buildings were lost;
landmarks famed throughout the world were lost,attacked because
they represented American financial power and American freedom
and American pride...and international commerce and international
friendship in a network of other World Trade Centers around the
world.Buildings of awe-inspiring scale,soaring to the skies as
the crown of a world-famous skyline.

It was the desire of the terrorists that these buildings be lost;
that America be "cut down to size",terrorized out of again erecting
such immense icons to enterprise and prosperity.That a hole remain
in the skyline as testament to their success,inspiring further
attacks on our landmarks each gone forever once successfully felled.

In these circumstances any development plan that grants the
terrorists' wishes is inescapably evidence of the terrorists'
victory and American surrender to their dictates...not the
"symbol of our nation's resilience" that the first paragraph
claims is desired.

Yet nowhere in the document is a committment to undo the
destruction of the Towers made...rather,snide complaints about
the Towers are offered amid a plan to divide the site and remake
the area into one those who died in the Towers would not have
recognized.

The reconstruction of 1 and 2 World Trade Center to at least
their former height must be the centerpiece of any redevelopment
of the World Trade Center site...all other construction is
ancillary to this.

The draft document claims that "The memorial will stand as an
eternal tribute to the victims,the enduring strength of democracy,
a celebration of freedom,and a testament to the resurgent power of
the city and the nation."

Any memorial's effectiveness in these goals is fatally damaged
if it also constitutes evidence that the terrorists achieved their
aims and America did not dare reverse their act.Resilience and
resurgence are not embodied in replacing structures that dominated
their surroundings and views for miles around with ones no taller
than those across the immediately surrounding streets!

Terrorism must be answered with boldness rather than fear...
a "can do" rather than "don't dare" attitude.Memorials must show
our ability to carry on with the burdens of the fallen with our
courage undimmed...though they must be remembered from the ground
level to the highest levels of the new Towers,giving up the aspirations
to the skies that they enjoyed is a betrayal rather than an honoring
of their memory.

New Towers can inspire the world,and the world deserves no less
from New York...a city that has long led in the erection of buildings
of breathtaking height,and whose surrender of the lead in this regard
is a cause of regret for many.The symbolism of being home to the
tallest building in the world is not lost on the Asian cities now
vying for this distinction,showing the world that this is indeed
"The Pacific Century" and America has passed its peak...especially
New York,which now faces the century with no building taller than
it had seventy years ago.

Now especially the state and nation(with taxpayer rebuilding funds)
and the world look to New York to "stand tall"...New York must not
disappoint them.New Twin Towers should exceed the old ones in every
respect,while remaining strongly reminiscent of them...applying the
latest lessons in safety and strength in their construction and
materials.No buildings of average height for the district could do
this...and as noted by eminent architect Eli Attia,"Any 100 story
building is safer than any 50 story building."

Fear must be answered with hope rather than retreat.
The refrain that no one would want to work on the high floors of
giant towers has never been true...and such fears that there are,
being the heart's desire of those who killed thousands of good
people,must not be allowed to stand in the way of full-scale
reconstruction.Every engineering improvement in the new Towers
is another reason why people ought to work there.And momentary
softness in the real estate market will surely vanish in the
lifetimes of the buildings.

The plans say "Human scale will be re-established"...but the answer
to that has to be,"Not here,not now." It is a baleful denial of the
tragedy of September 11th to ignore the fact that to retreat from
the heroic scale of the landmark Towers to a "human scale" neighborhood
is to grant the wishes of mass murderers and create symbols of surrender
to their success.

Improvements in the infrastructure of Lower Manhattan are not a
flaw in the plans...the new Towers deserve the finest accessibility
by all forms of transportation.

The lack of commitment to restore the Twin Towers is the overriding
problem in the document as it stands,and revision to explicitly
confirm that this is a matter of great priority will make the plan
one that New York and the world will see as one to be grateful for
rather than setting the seal on surrender to murder and fear.